Breakdown of Teniamo il drone al di qua del crinale.
di
of, from
tenere
to keep / to hold
il drone
the drone
il crinale
the ridge
al di qua
on this side
Questions & Answers about Teniamo il drone al di qua del crinale.
Why do we use "al di qua del" instead of just "al di qua"?
The phrase al di qua means "on this side". When you want to specify exactly what it is on this side of, you must add the preposition di. Because crinale takes the masculine definite article il, the preposition di combines with it to form the articulated preposition del.
What is the difference between "di qua" and "al di qua"?
While both relate to "here" or "this side", di qua on its own usually indicates a general direction, like "this way" or "over here". The complex structure al di qua di acts as a precise preposition of place meaning "on this side of" a specific boundary or object, which is why it is used here to describe the drone's position relative to the ridge.
How do you say "on the other side" using this same grammatical structure?
Why does "teniamo" translate to "we keep" here instead of "we hold"?
The versatile verb tenere is used both for physically holding an object and for keeping something in a specific position, state, or location. Since a drone flies, they are not physically grasping it in their hands; they are maintaining its aerial position, making "keep" the correct translation in English.
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